Subotica

About Subotica | Key Players | In Development

The Daisy Chain (2007)

Production Notes

Director’s Statement

What we aimed to achieve with The Daisy Chain is a psychological horror. Something that is frightening and tense but that comes out of a normality, a reality that all of us can find ourselves in.

The character of Daisy is the key to this. She is the force. A child - perhaps troubled and innocent - or is she evil and manipulative? There is an unblinking confidence to her - is she slightly too knowledgeable - or too obsessive? Who and what is she?

We knew who Damian in The Omen was. We knew who and what Rosemary’s Baby was - but who and what is Daisy Gahan?

We should always be confronted with this question - is she the changeling that people suspect or is she just an innocent child with a difficult history - a child who is autistic? A child who needs help, love and nurture. Or is she Daisy of the title The Daisy Chain - a force that is able to unleash a series of events that have frightening and deadly consequences.

There is a strangeness to Daisy - an unblinking obsession - think about how she speaks - how she sings - how she can suddenly become the person standing opposite her - how she lulls one into her world - her sphere. Think of the moment Tomas sees Daisy dressed as Martha. Then imagine images of the changeling that Martha sees on the internet or in a book - a feral - a child from some other world.

Finally think of the moment that Daisy comes upon Martha in the bath. Somehow it is a reprise of the moment Martha first connected with the story of Daisy, when she came upon the drowned child. Daisy is frighteningly still at the door. Her eyes see everything, take in everything. She moves towards Martha. For a moment Martha sees what everybody else has seen. One moment Daisy is the knowing and evil changeling - the next - the innocent autistic child who simply wants to play.

VISUAL APPROACH

The film relies on the beauty of the natural environment of Ireland. The country’s west coast - a landscape that is wild, bleak and beautiful is one of the characters of the film. This landscape dominates the visual approach. The majesty of the sea, the wildness of the ever changing weather, the trees stunted and gnarled by the Atlantic winds - a landscape that adds to the horror and claustrophobia of the story.

The use of camera POV creates suspense. We look at events and key moments from Daisy’s silent point of view - allowing the audience to become more aware of what Daisy is seeing and feeling as she takes in the various characters in our story. There is also careful use of visual motifs. Motifs that connect the landscape to Martha’s state of mind.

The fairy ring - a motif that is both haunting and comforting at the same time - like arms wrapped around one for safety and security - or a dark foreboding place depending on one’s POV. The motif of Daisy’s doll that we see covered and uncovered throughout the story. The motif of the angel/fairy that Daisy becomes. There is the use of colour throughout. The brown and earthy tones of the landscape versus the bright colours in Daisy’s world - pink, sweet and seductive.

The screenplay depicts the diversity of Irish culture and heritage particular to rural Ireland. One of the central themes of the film is the juxtaposition of old Irish folklore and contemporary rationalism. These opposing ideas become very real in the symbolic imagery and characters of the story - in the depiction of the older and younger Irish generations. Eerie elements abound in the hanging crucifix’s - the dark shadows - Daisy’s pretend fairy wings - the treacherous fires and in the creeping and searching eyes of our mysterious quiet protagonist.

THE MUSIC

When composer David Julyan begins scoring a film he often starts by thinking of the location as having a theme, but in this case

“I felt the character of Daisy dominated the film and so started with her theme. Director Aisling Walsh wanted the scene with Daisy playing on the swing to be the moment where she is at her happiest, and this is where I began. I wanted to convey a feeling of childlike innocence with a sense of menace below the surface. This piece worked so well that I was able to develop the ideas into the rest of the score.”

Julyan viewed the themes as centered around Daisy and the different aspects of her relationships to the other characters, be it innocent child, sinister changeling or under threat from those who distrust her.

By using a small ensemble of acoustic instruments, centered around piano, cello and flute he was able to mix them with electronic sounds including a lot of sounds derived from heavily processed instruments including piano and a toy door harp that were used to create the childlike bell sounds that add a subtle tension to the drama.